Rita Whaley, ChicagoMember Since May 2010Artist Statement My vibrant and colorful paintings aim to uplift your spirits and inspire your imagination. I seek to show the deeper experiences of our shared humanity, and the spiritual richness of nature and the world around us.

As a former psychotherapist, my work is intuitive and rarely premeditated.

Starting with random shapes and colors as a background, I open my mind to all possibilities. Using acrylics, oil crayons, pastels and watercolor with digital brushes, different images emerge, take shape and suggest outlines and definition.

Dreams, my view of the world, spiritual experiences and intuitive feelings find their own place into my pieces. I enjoy the process and the surprise of letting the paintings evolve organically.

IBorn and raised in Germany, I traveled the world, lived with my husband Bob in many different places and have now landed in Chicago. Here I reconnected with my best friend in life - my sister Tracy, who is an exceptional photographer. Together we have grown and learned to be successful working artists. None of this would be possible without my husband Bob, who does all the art fair setup, computer work and fixing the things we artists need to follow our muse.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you come back from time to time to see my new work